Out in the Bush

The Journey Begins—Kafue National Park

Saturday, 12/27/2008

Well Hello all!  We headed out of the city (2-3 stops of course) around 11 in the morning and headed for the “zoo” (Samantha).  We have explained several times that this is a ‘game park’ and the animals are free and not behind fences but I guess this is the only way she can relate to African animals.  She’s only seen them in a zoo, so that must be where we are going.  J

 

As we leave town we realize it’s close to lunch time (a couple hours after we originally planned to leave) but don’t want to stop again or we may never leave.  This being our first trip here in Africa, I am not fully prepared mentally and did not even think about lunch.  Luckily, I did think about having some fruit and snacks in the room  for my the girls who ALWAYS have the munchies.  So we head out anyway, acutely aware that there isn’t a McDonalds every 5-10 miles (or rather in the country as Brad pointed out) and disaster could be waiting right down the road if the trip ends up being too much longer than we expect.

 

As we travel out of town, the scenes become familiar and I remember what it was like being in Kenya.  Lots of farm land, small block homes and “businesses” (the size of the average American bedroom 20 years ago), and even more mud and thatch dwellings—some alone, some grouped  together.  The occasional person along the side of the road sits with buckets of mangos, hoping the rare passerby will stop and buy some and carts full of limbs or fruit are being pulled by bulls or oxen on the edge of the road.  People walking along the side of the road, some even dressed in suits with ties leave you wondering where they can possibly be going? 

 

Towns on the map end up being 10-15 block rooms at most on the edge of the road, some open for business, and some closed.  Over the course of the 200km or so, we are stopped 3 times at police checkpoints.  I’m not entirely sure of the purpose of these check points but they all check your license and vehicle registration.  We speculate that this is the way they “patrol” with limited vehicles—but that is pure speculation.

 

We finally arrive at Kafue National Park 3 hours and many chips, cheerios and apples later.  Our lodge is another 20-30 minutes inside the park.  As we are driving in, I am telling the girls to “oh look how pretty” as I gaze across some grasslands and all they have to say is “what? I don’t see anything”.  As we continue into the park, we begin to see antelope and other various ‘deer like’ animals.  The girls are fascinated.  Then we come upon a pack of (7) wart hogs trotting alongside the road and they are squealing “look!  I see!   I see!”  Before we ever get to the turn off to the lodge, we see many more antelope (and their cousins), wart hogs, monkeys and zebra.  By now the girls are thoroughly excited.

 

 We are staying at Mukambi Bush Camp which is made up of a main lodge where there is check in, a thatched outdoor dining area, lounging/game playing area, kids corner (room upstairs with entertainment and a nanny to play with kids), and a bar.  

Mukambi lodge:  top left deck is the "kid's corner"; bottom left is lounging and game playing area; Right deck: dining area;

Then there are 10 separate Chalets which are round, thatch covered stone dwellings each with a small bathroom. Limited power is provided by a generator and solar power.  The water is heated by the sun, so it’s suggested that you take your showers at night if you want a hot one and you may have a slightly warm one in the morning if the day before was sunny.  If it’s been cloudy, there is no hot water.  Being in the game park, there are obviously animals all around.  At night and at dusk, you are advised to drive back and forth to the lodge.  Last night, a hyena was spotted at the road near reception and someone saw a lion when they came out of their chalet this morning. We have a baby bushbuck and a monkey that hang around outside our chalet and the deer likes to play “billy goat” with the girls  (Samantha has met her match –she is not fond of playing with the deer J ).

The Chalet

Inside the Chalet, there were 2 single beds and then they brought in bunk beds for the girls.  Olivia's pack and play was set up at the far end of the room.  (This is for you mom--I know how you like to keep mental pictures :)  )

The baby bushbuck outside our Chalet;  Notice the pink dot to the right of the bushbuck; That is Cinderella's slipper (yes, Samantha was wearing her princess shoes in the bush) that she lost as she ran from the head butting bushbuck;  :)

The Sunset Cruise

 

After we arrived yesterday, we set out for our first activity which was a sunset cruise with fishing on the Kafue river. We joined another family with children the girls’ ages and 2 other vacationers on a pontoon boat and headed up river.  Along the way, we saw deer, a “fish eagle”, zebras, monkeys and lots of hippos.  The hippos were definitely the most exciting.  You 

could hear them calling out and see them blow water into the air as they came up. Once again the girls were completely enthralled and excited.  We reached a point up river and threw out the anchor and everyone but Olivia and I went fishing.  At one point the guide told us to listen.  You could hear multiple lions 

roaring in the distance. It was a really beautiful sound (to me) and I thought that was the coolest part of the evening.  The guide caught the first fish (breem) and Kaitlyn followed close behind with a catfish.  

Of course, my girls have been taking full advantage of the soft drinks available on board and I'm too distracted by Olivia to think about it, so midway through fishing Kaitlyn needs to relieve herself desperately.  Brad's thinking 'she's not getting into that water with the crocs and schistosomiasis' and says she can wait.  We are a minimum of 2 hours from being back at a toilet and thankfully the guide comes up with a solution.  So the guide and I hold a blanket up in the corner of the pontoon and Kaitlyn is a little amazed and a little tickled that she is hanging over the side of a boat full of people, going to

 

the bathroom.  Glad to be done with that ordeal, I return to the other end of the boat and take Olivia from Brad.  Samantha's looking around delightedly and wants to know all the details of how this was accomplished behind the blanket.  Then she notices the 5 year old little boy from the other family also taking care of business.  Well, not to be outdone, and definitely not wanting to miss out on the WHOLE experience, 

Samantha then declares that she also cannot wait.  (We seriously think this was NOT an emergency)  But not wanting to push our luck (she is after all only 4), Samantha and I head behind the blanket.  Of course Samantha is shorter and therefore cannot touch the ground AND get over the side so we are locked in a hug hanging over the edge with Samantha giggling.  The smug look on her face as we return to the group suggests, once again, that she just wanted to be part of the club.

 Several more catfish were caught and as it started to get dark, everyone pulled in their lines and the guide prepared to start the boat.  Unfortunately, the boat did not want to start.  As we sit and pretend to be calm (I’d rather be hiding somewhere) for the kid’s sake (while the engine is trying to turn over unsuccessfully), we watch a HUGE black storm cloud literally racing across the bush towards us, dumping tons of water and a good bit of lightening.  We all move our camp chairs to the middle of the boat, don our raincoats and cover with blankets.  Now the guide is calling in on his CB radio for someone to come “rescue” the guests.  Well, we all know the only boat to “rescue” us is similar to a large jon boat that seats 8-10 without any covering.  I’m not too excited about the prospect of racing down the river uncovered, with 3 children screaming as we’re pelted with rain and lightening.  So, I just look to the heavens and say “Lord, now would be a great time for the boat to crank”.  Thankfully, I can say over and over again that my Lord is faithful to me and he started the boat right up (this after at least 7-10 minutes of failure). 

 The rain began to fall heavily as we made our way down the river but we stayed surprisingly dry.  Olivia, my darling baby, had not done much but fuss all afternoon on the cruise and as soon as the rain and lightening started, she became extremely happy and playful. Kailtyn was obviously very scared but held it together very well for Olivia and Samantha’s sake and pulled her hood over her head and buried her head in her Daddy’s lap.  Samantha was in a chair directly behind me holding a very animated conversation about frogs and water beetles with the five year old boy from the other family.  About ½ way back we see the “rescue” boat approaching and I am once again very thankful to be on the pontoon, moving down the river.  A little futher on (it’s completely dark now) the guide yells over the engine and the rain “there’s an elephant crossing the river”.  We all strain to see and with the next bolt of lightening, you see the top ¼ of an elephant sticking out of the water, about a third of the way across the river.  I think I could have found a better time to cross the river myself if I were that elephant, but it was a truly cool sight.  It brought Kaitlyn out of hiding and she was able to see it.  We all arrived safely back at the bush camp as the rain settled into a sprinkle.  It is truly amazing how fast storms blow up and blow away here. 

 

We returned to camp around 7:30pm but dinner is not served until 8:30 due to the evening Safari doesn’t return until that time.  Thankfully, they have already prepared food for all the children and the nanny takes them all and feeds them while the parents relax.  The girls were finishing when we were getting ready to eat and they chose to go to the kid’s corner with the other children and Brad, Olivia and I had a wonderful candlelight dinner with a nice cool breeze blowing off the river. 

 

It was rather late by now, so we return to our chalet and the girls climb into their bunks and are asleep in record time.  Olivia went right down in her pack and play and never made a fuss.  I quietly requested Brad kill the scorpion hanging on the outside of my mosquito net and then settled in for a not so deep sleep.

 

Sunday, 12/28/2008

Today we are taking things slowly.  At least Olivia and I are.  There is a morning Safari that leaves out at 5:30am which we opted not to try today.  We slept in and had a nice quiet breakfast at the lodge.  We took the kids up to the kids corner and played for a while.  Olivia found a miniature basketball and was enjoying rolling it around until it got too close to the door stop which is a carved warthog.  She’d crawl up to about 6 inches away and then point at it and start blowing rapidly through pursed lips—for those of you who have not witnessed this before, it is her “I am nervous” reaction and is quite comical.  She does the same thing when she BEGS to get closer to my parent’s 120 lb lab and then comes within a foot of him.  She quickly changes her mind and has the above reaction. 

Olivia and I are back in the Chalet now and she is napping.  The older girls and Brad have gone out on a boat and are fishing. I think our plan is to hang out today and try a morning Safari tomorrow.  I’m signing out for now.  More to come later—I’m sure.

Change of Plans:  Brad signed us up for an evening Safari tonight and the girls were not all that excited. The safari begins at 4pm and goes for 3-4 hours.  I was not looking forward to holding Olivia for a 4 hour trip in an open jeep and as we're leaving, the owner noted that they "tied" on a carseat for the last group.  I completely forgot about the whole latch system on the car seats and  it turns out it works very nicely on a metal framed jeep.  Olivia went immediately asleep for her 4pm nap and slept 2 hours.  We learned about some of the plant life and how to distinguish between the bushbucks, impala and puku (all look like deer).  Both girls wanted the full experience again so we 'toileted' in the 'bush' toilet too. We really did not see much up close on the trip until we were returning to the camp. As soon as we passed out of the park, we saw a hippo, and 2 elephants just off the side of the road.  The girls once again took full advantage of the onboard snacks and sodas and were not shy about asking for them.  Following the Safari, we had a late dinner and then returned to the Chalet for bed.

Monday, 12/29/2008  

Today was a true rest day.  We did little other than relax, play games, nap and swim.  Olivia enjoyed the down time and the older girls got a 3 hour swim in with their friend Laura. 

 I don't know if it was today or yesterday, but Samantha discovered (completely on her own I might add) that you can climb on a bar stool and request a Fanta--and you get it.  Brad says he looked up and there she was, right at home ordering herself  a drink.  The second time she did it, Kaitlyn walked up looking at her Fanta and wanted to know where she got it.  Samantha told her" you just sit down and ask for a Fanta and tell them if you want a glass or not".  So, for the first time in our lives, when we checked out, Brad had to pay a bar tab. :) Thanks to our children-no less.

Tuesday 12/30/08

We decided to go on a morning game drive this day.  They usually head out about 5:30, but we scheduled ours for 6.  This time 2 of the owners' daughters came along.  They were very gracious and let Samantha sit on the back bench between them.  The 12 year old sat behind me and took pictures of Olivia as she peered over my shoulder.  Then she commented to me "She likes to talk, doesn't she?" (referring to Samantha who had been talking non-stop to them for over an hour).  As we neared the main road, we saw a breeding herd of elephants (mothers and babies) crossing the road in the distance.  We were excited and wanted to rush down there and see them up close.  The other girls did not and became nervous.  Evidently (according to our guide), elephants were poached rather heavily here 20 years ago and they have outstanding memories.  Since elephants live 70 years, the mamas remember and are very protective and aggressive toward humans.  One of the lodge's guides has been attacked twice and once a jeep came back without a door. So... we were plenty happy to see them from 50 yards away as they walked away.

As we continued back on the main paved road, we came upon 2 lions.  They were at the edge of the road as we pulled up.  One continued across and sat down in the grass while the other stood his ground at the edge of the road and just stared at us.  They had black manes which means they're at least 10 years old.  Our guide, Akim, said they are brothers and travel with one lioness and 2 cubs.  We speculate they were in hiding close by.  The girls (from the lodge) named them Mufasa and Scar. This concluded the excitement of our trip and we headed home the next morning.  There was to be a big new years celebration we considered staying one more day for, but I was really missing my bug-free bed (I hadn't slept in four days--constantly killing bugs that were crawling on me).  

We will be uploading more safari pictures soon.